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Dragonlance: Preludes #3
Brothers Majere
Raistlin, Caramon, and their kender companion, Earwig, investigate the disappearance of cats from the city of Mereklar and a series of murders by a gigantic cat. Reprint.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
May 11, 2012
Raistlin, Raistlin, Raistlin! I am a Raistlin fan boy. He is simply the only character that has kept me reading Dragonlance books so far. This book takes place between Brothers in Arms and Dragons of Autumn Twilight. Raistlin, Caramon, and Tasslehoff's cousin Earwig Lockpicker journey to Mereklar. Legend has it that as long as there are plenty of cats in Mereklar the city will be protected, but that cats are disappearing at an alarming rate. They unravel a mystery with the aid of the Cat Lord Bast. A must read if you love Raistlin.
January 13, 2023
Raistlin, Caramon and a kender, What a perfect mix! What starts out to be a mediocre story about lost cats actually turns out to be one of my favorite Dragonlance adventures. Caramon and the lich was the best!
March 19, 2018
Es terrible, pero al menos es mejor que los libros de Tanis y Tas. Sólo tiene dos estrellas por eso, porque este lo he podido terminar.
Empezó muy bien. Caramon no era tan tonto ni Raistlin tan... Raistlin como en los demás libros y eso me gustaba, pero no sé en qué punto comenzó a ir todo cuesta abajo y acabó siendo una parodia de sí mismo. Todos los personajes conocidos eran OOC y los nuevos eran absurdos. El supuesto misterio del libro no era misterio ninguno y el modo de llevar la trama demasiado cuestionable y soporífero.
Lo describen todo al más mínimo detalle, se ve que para rellenar espacio, porque luego todo eso no tiene propósito ninguno. Tres páginas describiendo cómo Raistlin hace una poción; una y media diciendo cómo el kender y Caramon abren una tapa. Diálogos estúpidos, vocabulario aún más estúpido, y calidad literaria bastante, bastante abajo.
Me ha parecido más un fanfic que un libro de la Dragonlance.
Empezó muy bien. Caramon no era tan tonto ni Raistlin tan... Raistlin como en los demás libros y eso me gustaba, pero no sé en qué punto comenzó a ir todo cuesta abajo y acabó siendo una parodia de sí mismo. Todos los personajes conocidos eran OOC y los nuevos eran absurdos. El supuesto misterio del libro no era misterio ninguno y el modo de llevar la trama demasiado cuestionable y soporífero.
Lo describen todo al más mínimo detalle, se ve que para rellenar espacio, porque luego todo eso no tiene propósito ninguno. Tres páginas describiendo cómo Raistlin hace una poción; una y media diciendo cómo el kender y Caramon abren una tapa. Diálogos estúpidos, vocabulario aún más estúpido, y calidad literaria bastante, bastante abajo.
Me ha parecido más un fanfic que un libro de la Dragonlance.
June 16, 2017
*spoilers*
Kevin Stein drew the short straw when he was asked to write the further adventures of Dragonlance’s most popular character(s). Guaranteed sales at the time, I’m sure, but in terms of critical approval this was always destined to be a lose-lose situation. Had Stein created too much of an elaborate backstory or delved too deeply into the characters psyches, then there’d be an outcry of “only Weis and Hickman can do that” and every minor contribution would be picked over to death. Swing the other way and you have a boring, lifeless time-killer that’s destined simply to be “not as good as Weis and Hickman”. Ultimately, this book will come as a disappointment to anyone enthralled by the Legends series and wanting another journey of such bombastic proportions. You will not get that here. Nevertheless Stein has done an excellent job of walking the road between those rocky hard places and delivering a tale that’s satisfying, fun and true to the characters as they were created.
I enjoyed reading this a lot, though I’m also a touch frustrated with it. The trouble is, whilst Stein does indeed create a tale well worthy of the reading, as a prelude to the Dragonlance Chronicles it doesn’t work. Yes, Takhisis, Queen of Darkness is back and trying to enter the world of Krynn again, just as she did in Kendermore. As a conceit it worked in Kendermore because the tale was never really meant to be taken very seriously, but here we have a character journey that doesn’t mesh with the chronologically later books. Ultimately, in the Chronicles, had Caramon and Raistlin been this aware that the God of all things darkness was trying to make her way back into the world … things probably would have played somewhat differently. This book would have been a better adventure for non-Chronicles characters who maybe ended up dying or became perceived as mad. Not Raistlin and Caramon.
Still, we can brush these frustrations aside and enjoy a book that has a lot to offer, namely a fun central mystery involving missing cats and an oddly large reward; and an almost slasher-like vibe that occurs as town councillors are slowly dispatched by a rather large cat in gruesome, well written detail, whilst Raistlin and Caramon fall under the spell of Lady Shasta, and the relationship and subsequent bickering between the brothers is explored in delightful detail. The pacing of the book is excellent and Stein resists the temptation to throw too much at the reader in one go, and as far as a light-reader can manage, I think a good atmosphere is created.
It’s a shame that the climactic showdown isn’t as well drawn. Caramon fights some demons opens a casket and Earwig the Kender puts on a ring which blocks Takhisis entry to this plane. It’s all a bit quick, unfortunately. Raistlin’s mental showdown with Shasta, who turns out to be a Lich (and Caramon had slept with her haw haw) is tenser, but still over too quickly. Still, I came away satisfied having got what I wanted from this book – frankly, I got a lot more than I’d wanted, since I thought Stein was going to majorly fluff this assignment. He doesn’t, and it’s another recommendable entry in the ever enjoyable Dragonlance saga. Just … ignore the wonky canon stuff. Oh, and maybe it would be nice to have a Dragonlance novel without a Kender sidekick now – though the recurring Dizzy hoopak joke and Earwig’s discovery of women still made me laugh, I confess.
Kevin Stein drew the short straw when he was asked to write the further adventures of Dragonlance’s most popular character(s). Guaranteed sales at the time, I’m sure, but in terms of critical approval this was always destined to be a lose-lose situation. Had Stein created too much of an elaborate backstory or delved too deeply into the characters psyches, then there’d be an outcry of “only Weis and Hickman can do that” and every minor contribution would be picked over to death. Swing the other way and you have a boring, lifeless time-killer that’s destined simply to be “not as good as Weis and Hickman”. Ultimately, this book will come as a disappointment to anyone enthralled by the Legends series and wanting another journey of such bombastic proportions. You will not get that here. Nevertheless Stein has done an excellent job of walking the road between those rocky hard places and delivering a tale that’s satisfying, fun and true to the characters as they were created.
I enjoyed reading this a lot, though I’m also a touch frustrated with it. The trouble is, whilst Stein does indeed create a tale well worthy of the reading, as a prelude to the Dragonlance Chronicles it doesn’t work. Yes, Takhisis, Queen of Darkness is back and trying to enter the world of Krynn again, just as she did in Kendermore. As a conceit it worked in Kendermore because the tale was never really meant to be taken very seriously, but here we have a character journey that doesn’t mesh with the chronologically later books. Ultimately, in the Chronicles, had Caramon and Raistlin been this aware that the God of all things darkness was trying to make her way back into the world … things probably would have played somewhat differently. This book would have been a better adventure for non-Chronicles characters who maybe ended up dying or became perceived as mad. Not Raistlin and Caramon.
Still, we can brush these frustrations aside and enjoy a book that has a lot to offer, namely a fun central mystery involving missing cats and an oddly large reward; and an almost slasher-like vibe that occurs as town councillors are slowly dispatched by a rather large cat in gruesome, well written detail, whilst Raistlin and Caramon fall under the spell of Lady Shasta, and the relationship and subsequent bickering between the brothers is explored in delightful detail. The pacing of the book is excellent and Stein resists the temptation to throw too much at the reader in one go, and as far as a light-reader can manage, I think a good atmosphere is created.
It’s a shame that the climactic showdown isn’t as well drawn. Caramon fights some demons opens a casket and Earwig the Kender puts on a ring which blocks Takhisis entry to this plane. It’s all a bit quick, unfortunately. Raistlin’s mental showdown with Shasta, who turns out to be a Lich (and Caramon had slept with her haw haw) is tenser, but still over too quickly. Still, I came away satisfied having got what I wanted from this book – frankly, I got a lot more than I’d wanted, since I thought Stein was going to majorly fluff this assignment. He doesn’t, and it’s another recommendable entry in the ever enjoyable Dragonlance saga. Just … ignore the wonky canon stuff. Oh, and maybe it would be nice to have a Dragonlance novel without a Kender sidekick now – though the recurring Dizzy hoopak joke and Earwig’s discovery of women still made me laugh, I confess.
November 10, 2014
First prelude that actually was really well written and did not have spoilers for main series. Book makes reader feel the emotionally charged relationship Majere twins have and it is better than original series in that aspect.
February 4, 2018
“You see, Caramon,” Raistlin said, with a soft sigh, “I think that I am at last beginning to understand.” “I’m glad you are. I don’t understand a damn thing!”
The quote above pretty much sums up how I feel about this book. If you are familiar with the Dragonlance Chronicles you know that the heroes went their separate ways 5 years before the adventure that took place in the original trilogy. Preludes tells some of what Raistlin and Caramon Majere did in that time. The story starts after Raistlin has completed his test in the Tower of High Sorcery. While his body was damaged he gained great power. The brothers along with the Kender, Earwig Lockpick cousin of Tasslehoff Burrfoot are looking for a job to replenish their empty pockets. They find a post looking for someone to help the town of Mereklar solve the mystery of their missing cats. The city of Mereklar loves its cats. All cats are welcomed there and it’s residence believe that one day their cats will save the world. But lately the cats have gone missing. The brothers and the Kender are hired to solve the mystery and return the cats to the city. But someone in the city doesn’t want the cats to return and are willing to kill to make sure that doesn’t happen.
I read this book about twenty years ago, but for the life of me I could not remember anything about it. That should of been my first clue. This book was really difficult to get through. It was extremely boring. It's suppose to play out like a mystery but good mystery novels give you small clues and some insight that the protagonist do not have without giving away the story. This book didn't do that. I was lost through the whole thing. I did not have a clue about what was going on. The epilogue at the end tries to explain everything. This will go down as one of my least favorite Dragonlance novels.
The quote above pretty much sums up how I feel about this book. If you are familiar with the Dragonlance Chronicles you know that the heroes went their separate ways 5 years before the adventure that took place in the original trilogy. Preludes tells some of what Raistlin and Caramon Majere did in that time. The story starts after Raistlin has completed his test in the Tower of High Sorcery. While his body was damaged he gained great power. The brothers along with the Kender, Earwig Lockpick cousin of Tasslehoff Burrfoot are looking for a job to replenish their empty pockets. They find a post looking for someone to help the town of Mereklar solve the mystery of their missing cats. The city of Mereklar loves its cats. All cats are welcomed there and it’s residence believe that one day their cats will save the world. But lately the cats have gone missing. The brothers and the Kender are hired to solve the mystery and return the cats to the city. But someone in the city doesn’t want the cats to return and are willing to kill to make sure that doesn’t happen.
I read this book about twenty years ago, but for the life of me I could not remember anything about it. That should of been my first clue. This book was really difficult to get through. It was extremely boring. It's suppose to play out like a mystery but good mystery novels give you small clues and some insight that the protagonist do not have without giving away the story. This book didn't do that. I was lost through the whole thing. I did not have a clue about what was going on. The epilogue at the end tries to explain everything. This will go down as one of my least favorite Dragonlance novels.
July 10, 2008
This is an older attempt at continuing the story of Raistlin Magere: the early years that has mostly been made obsolete by the later installments by Margaret Weis in the Raistlin Chronicles. This particular work of the preludes remains interesting mostly as a study in what happens when characters in a series are placed in the hands of new authors: the dynamic between the twins is very different in this work from any others written by the two lead authors on the series. Let it serve as a warning for anyone who hopes that eventually a world like Harry Potter will be opened up for new authors to fill in the gaps: the names might be the same, but the identities are destined to morph. In this case, Raistlin's sharp edges are softened somewhat and Caramon's character reduced to an even greater simplicity than before. That, and these two soon to be great heroes are solving a mystery involving cats and contrived references to Egyptian mythos. It's not a terrible book by any means, but as part of the Dragonlance story it fails to entice.
August 12, 2016
3.5 stars technically.
I am extremely biased because there were cats and a Cat Lord in this along with my favorite Dragonlance character: Raistlin. so I almost feel this is the strongest in the series, which would hold it at a steady 3 ish stars but I popped it up to 4 solely for the Cat Lord and the cats...
I did feel Raistlin was slightly ooc at some points though.
Dragonlance series has an issue with having low diversity and super hetero-storylines and Raistlin is one of the few characters that generally escapes their super hetero-storylines but this book was a bit pushy making him seem attracted to someone (though there was a reason, but still). However, the Cat Lord was defined as having dark skin so at least there's that. If Dragonlance continues maybe there will be more diversity all around (and less super heteronormativeness)!
I am extremely biased because there were cats and a Cat Lord in this along with my favorite Dragonlance character: Raistlin. so I almost feel this is the strongest in the series, which would hold it at a steady 3 ish stars but I popped it up to 4 solely for the Cat Lord and the cats...
I did feel Raistlin was slightly ooc at some points though.
Dragonlance series has an issue with having low diversity and super hetero-storylines and Raistlin is one of the few characters that generally escapes their super hetero-storylines but this book was a bit pushy making him seem attracted to someone (though there was a reason, but still). However, the Cat Lord was defined as having dark skin so at least there's that. If Dragonlance continues maybe there will be more diversity all around (and less super heteronormativeness)!
August 7, 2016
As always really enjoyed reading about some of the companions who I have left for such a long time now, and the majere brothers are great favourites of mine. I hate the way Raistlin treats Caramon all the time, ordering him about and being so unappreciative of all he does for him but when Caramon is hurt Raistlin shows another side to his character and gently tends to his twin!! Earwig the kender is as all kenders brave, enthusiastic and adverntures to the point of dangerous, but I just love it when there is a main character in the books who is a kender, makes the reading so much more fun. The evil demons as always get ousted but this time they are ousted by the cats who where the protectors of the town and the cat lord is awesome but then I love cats of all shapes, colours and size so maybe I was prejudiced in my enjoyment of this book!!
August 4, 2013
A story set in the Dragonlance realm. This is the story of the twins Raistlin and Caramon before the original trilogy. Cats are disappearing in a town and the twins investigate. I know the premise sounds pathetic for a story, this is a good story. The author nailed the characters which is vital. There is a kender (Tas' cousin) which is good for a laugh and the story works to an exciting conclusion. I didn't give this a higher rating because I thought the author did not explain some minor points but if you are a fan of Dragonlance, I recommend this book.
May 4, 2018
Raistlin, Caramon ve bir kenderin bulunduğu bir yolculuğun keyifli olmaması büyük bir hayal kırıklığı olurdu ama neyseki olmadı. Üstelik kenderleri birkez daha sevdim. Kitaptaki en güzel konuşmanında kenderler için söylenmiş olan "Siz zaten mucizesiniz." olduğunu düşünüyorum. Fakat bu romanı iyi bir kitap yapmıyor. Bunu iki sebepten söylüyorum: Birincisi yaşanan olayın herhangi bir RPG oyunundaki yan görev gibi hissettirmesi, ikincisi ise karakterlerin kişiliklerini gayet iyi bildiğinizden yaşanacak şeyleri tahmin edebilmek. Aslında karakterlerin kişiliklerine sağdık yazılmış hoş bir şey ama insan farklı bir şeyler arıyor.
Son olarak şunu söylemeliyim. Bu kitap kronolojik olarak Mızrak Destanı'nın 5-6 yıl öncesinde geçsede Efsaneler Serisi'nden sonra okunması gerekiyor. Çünkü Ikizlerin Sınavından ciddi bir spoiler içermekle beraber bazı göndermelere sahip.
Son olarak şunu söylemeliyim. Bu kitap kronolojik olarak Mızrak Destanı'nın 5-6 yıl öncesinde geçsede Efsaneler Serisi'nden sonra okunması gerekiyor. Çünkü Ikizlerin Sınavından ciddi bir spoiler içermekle beraber bazı göndermelere sahip.
August 31, 2022
Deff different. But all the better for it.
December 14, 2017
The main characters in Brothers Majere are Raistlin, Caramon, and Earwig. They are on an adventure to find the missing cats of Mereklar. The cats are said to be in the city to save them or destroy them. So Raistlin and Caramon decide to go and find the cats for prize money. So they head off to Mereklar.
The theme for this book is, people shouldn't trust people they just met. An example of this is that the twins(Rastlin and Caramon) trust Councilor Shavas and she ends up being an evil un-dead witch. Another example is they also trust the leaders of the city and they end up being demons. The last example is, Caramon trusts Earwig while he, Earwig, has an evil ring on his finger and ends up getting almost murdered by Earwig because he was possessed by the Dark Queen. So the theme for this book is, people shouldn't trust people they just met.
I really liked this book. The only thing I really think is bad is that they're trying to find missing cats. I felt like that was just grasping for ideas. Although it is pretty funny. Other than that it was really good. It had really good parts and exciting parts too. It was really good.
The theme for this book is, people shouldn't trust people they just met. An example of this is that the twins(Rastlin and Caramon) trust Councilor Shavas and she ends up being an evil un-dead witch. Another example is they also trust the leaders of the city and they end up being demons. The last example is, Caramon trusts Earwig while he, Earwig, has an evil ring on his finger and ends up getting almost murdered by Earwig because he was possessed by the Dark Queen. So the theme for this book is, people shouldn't trust people they just met.
I really liked this book. The only thing I really think is bad is that they're trying to find missing cats. I felt like that was just grasping for ideas. Although it is pretty funny. Other than that it was really good. It had really good parts and exciting parts too. It was really good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2016
BROTHERS MAJERE is far from a great book, but I think I enjoyed it purely because it's a lot better than the other Dragonlance Preludes I've read so far (such as KENDERMORE). This serves as a stand-alone adventure for twin brothers Raistlin and Caramon Majere, although they're saddled with a kender (Tas from the original trilogy in all but name, which makes me suspect that the character was written as Tas and the name simply altered when the author found out he couldn't use him as he was in his own stand-alone adventure).
The Preludes serve as mini-adventures for the main characters of the Chronicles trilogy. They're slight and contain stories never alluded to in any other books in the series, so how much you enjoy them depends on your like of the characters, really. Luckily, Raistlin is by far the most interesting character in the whole Dragonlance universe, so Kevin Stein had things a little easier than the person who wrote KENDERMORE, for example.
This is an atypical adventure that reads like more of a detective story. Caramon and Raistlin are assigned to investigate the mystery of some disappearing cats (sounds like an Enid Blyton story, I know) in a sinister city. There are (surprisingly) grisly murders galore, along with mysterious supporting characters, and it all ends in a large scale battle involving demons and gods. It's hardly great literature, but as a pulp adventure it works and is fairly readable.
The Preludes serve as mini-adventures for the main characters of the Chronicles trilogy. They're slight and contain stories never alluded to in any other books in the series, so how much you enjoy them depends on your like of the characters, really. Luckily, Raistlin is by far the most interesting character in the whole Dragonlance universe, so Kevin Stein had things a little easier than the person who wrote KENDERMORE, for example.
This is an atypical adventure that reads like more of a detective story. Caramon and Raistlin are assigned to investigate the mystery of some disappearing cats (sounds like an Enid Blyton story, I know) in a sinister city. There are (surprisingly) grisly murders galore, along with mysterious supporting characters, and it all ends in a large scale battle involving demons and gods. It's hardly great literature, but as a pulp adventure it works and is fairly readable.
May 8, 2013
Maybe the plot was a little convoluted, and maybe the cats part was just kind of weird, but this book was actually pretty good overall. Okay...maybe I also wasn't overly fond of the kender (because only Tas is bearable) and his parts took up too large a percentage of the book. I don't think I really have any complaints outside of the above written.
I completely love that I think I was supposed to feel bad about it, but it really just made me laugh. Overall, there seemed to be an accurate treatment of the characters, which is good since I love the Raistlin/Caramon dynamic, especially when it gets complicated.
So this was totally worth reading and I'm glad that I didn't find it sooner so I had something to read this afternoon. That's how good this book was, I read it all in a few hours. Maybe I should have let it last longer, but I'm impatient.
I completely love that I think I was supposed to feel bad about it, but it really just made me laugh. Overall, there seemed to be an accurate treatment of the characters, which is good since I love the Raistlin/Caramon dynamic, especially when it gets complicated.
So this was totally worth reading and I'm glad that I didn't find it sooner so I had something to read this afternoon. That's how good this book was, I read it all in a few hours. Maybe I should have let it last longer, but I'm impatient.
February 13, 2015
I love all the Majere stories, but this one has some odd parts.
There are meta-references I am highly uncomfortable with, and modern references that don't even make sense.
This particular author does employ the use of introducing re-occurring themes/objects/people in quite a better way than Weis/Hickman, but the story doesn't flow the same as the staple Dragonlance books. This unfortunately makes it feel out of place, with many paragraphs I wound up speed-reading for their redundancies, and it was very rushed towards the end.
There are meta-references I am highly uncomfortable with, and modern references that don't even make sense.
This particular author does employ the use of introducing re-occurring themes/objects/people in quite a better way than Weis/Hickman, but the story doesn't flow the same as the staple Dragonlance books. This unfortunately makes it feel out of place, with many paragraphs I wound up speed-reading for their redundancies, and it was very rushed towards the end.
July 28, 2012
This was the first attempt to write a novel about the brothers Majere but another writer. It was a good story but it felt that the Brothers were not the ones Weis and Hickman wrote. Nevertheless it was a good mystery good about the twins growth after separating from the group.
Nevertheless it was good to pass a little time with Raistlin.
Nevertheless it was good to pass a little time with Raistlin.
August 23, 2016
Sebbene sia da un po di tempo che non leggo più dragonlance, non mi è dispiaciuto. la "lotta" tra i gemelli per conquistare una dama è una caratteristica che non ho mai incontrato prima. la narrazione ai concentra più sulla descrizione degli stati d'animo che sui combattimenti de gemelli. Poi c'è un nuovo kender...
March 5, 2009
For those of you who can't get enough of the twins here's a story full of good old fashioned adventuring, damsels and the queen of darkness. Throw in a kender for good measure and you've got the makings of one heck of an afternoon jaunt in your comfy chair.
January 15, 2014
Brothers Majere is about Caramon and Raistlin Majere, along with a Kender, saving cats and townspeople from demons and the Dark queen. A witch tries to stop them, but ultimatley, very nearly succeds.
July 4, 2024
Being as Raistlin is one of the greatest wizard characters in literature, Brothers Majere is one of few books in the vast library of Dragonlance that I would consider a must read outside of the original trilogy.
November 20, 2012
It was a fantastic adventure story featuring my favourite characters from the Dragonlance series. It had plenty of action and adventure and is a great read for fans of the Dragonlance series.
October 1, 2013
Les débuts des frères Majere, un récit intéressant et pleins d'action.
December 21, 2014
Definitely a keeper. Good solid fantasy fun. =)
March 15, 2016
good read
August 19, 2016
At last it ended. My thoughts summed up in one quote: "'And alcohol', Raistlin concluded."
December 27, 2025
Not great. In some respects one of the weakest DragonLance books I've read yet. It's more like a greatest hits clip show than an original story, though not in a literal sense. If you've been reading the DragonLance novels in order like I have, there's almost nothing here you haven't seen before. It was particularly frustrating because, for the first half of the book, I thought there might be at least a cute little mystery to solve. If not the best DragonLance book, then at least a fun enough and interesting read. But the further it goes, the more I realized the author was only going to tread old ground and have the characters spend pages messing around doing things that really don't need a detailed explanation. There's lots of fiddling around with gems and chests and magic spells, but it's often just a bunch of showy fluff that is meaningless without a deeper explanation.
As is often the case, the kender is the weakest part of the story, and this might be the worst yet. It seems like this character was originally supposed to be Tasslehoff but was replaced with a random cousin of his named Earwig at the last second because having Tass there wouldn't make sense in the timeline. He is indistinguishable from Tass, as Tass is more often than not indistinguishable from other kender. The concept of kender as a whole might be the worst part about DragonLance, and it's especially frustrating because the concept of a race that is eternally childlike and doesn't feel fear could be a great concept. But kender aren't just fearless, they're all incredibly stupid for no reason, and are all made to steal by "accident." How cool would it be to see a single kender that is proud of their greatest skills, and intelligent enough to put them to use? Somehow, I doubt it.
The end of the book is rushed and rife with typos and butchered sentences. Caramon is constantly referred to as "the big man" and "the fighter", and probably says "Sure, Raist" six hundred times. Raistlin saying "my brother" bringing up the lead.
There's a scene with Earwig and a magic ring ripped pretty much straight from Tolkien.
While some of the plot can be followed, a lot of it makes no sense and isn't explained until the last few pages (and then only sparingly) making a lot of the chapters uninteresting random antics and events.
And the worst part of the story: what's the answer to the mystery? Takhisis. Yep, it's her, yet again! Trying to open a portal into Krynn, fucking up, and screeching about it. Thrilling.
Any positives?
The cat god Bast, and the cat angle in general, is neat. But the demons look like cats too, and that's never explained, and Bast is under utilized, so it only goes so far.
Caramon fucks a lich and that's pretty funny.
Skippable book.
As is often the case, the kender is the weakest part of the story, and this might be the worst yet. It seems like this character was originally supposed to be Tasslehoff but was replaced with a random cousin of his named Earwig at the last second because having Tass there wouldn't make sense in the timeline. He is indistinguishable from Tass, as Tass is more often than not indistinguishable from other kender. The concept of kender as a whole might be the worst part about DragonLance, and it's especially frustrating because the concept of a race that is eternally childlike and doesn't feel fear could be a great concept. But kender aren't just fearless, they're all incredibly stupid for no reason, and are all made to steal by "accident." How cool would it be to see a single kender that is proud of their greatest skills, and intelligent enough to put them to use? Somehow, I doubt it.
The end of the book is rushed and rife with typos and butchered sentences. Caramon is constantly referred to as "the big man" and "the fighter", and probably says "Sure, Raist" six hundred times. Raistlin saying "my brother" bringing up the lead.
There's a scene with Earwig and a magic ring ripped pretty much straight from Tolkien.
While some of the plot can be followed, a lot of it makes no sense and isn't explained until the last few pages (and then only sparingly) making a lot of the chapters uninteresting random antics and events.
And the worst part of the story: what's the answer to the mystery? Takhisis. Yep, it's her, yet again! Trying to open a portal into Krynn, fucking up, and screeching about it. Thrilling.
Any positives?
The cat god Bast, and the cat angle in general, is neat. But the demons look like cats too, and that's never explained, and Bast is under utilized, so it only goes so far.
Caramon fucks a lich and that's pretty funny.
Skippable book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2023
Personally, I thought this was quite good. For those that enjoy Dragonlance and especially for those who enjoy following Raistlin (such as myself), this is well worth the read. Although the timeframe is questionable because of "Brothers in Arms" (Weiss Hickman), I put this afterwards due to certain descriptions made in the book. It's noted in the beginning that these stories 'are being collected' at the tower of High Sorcery and stories continue to come in after Raistlin is long passed. So dates and character ages may be off a tad due to story-telling nature in general. This worked fine for me.
Raistlin demonstrates growing magic usage which is cool. The one thing that wrinkled my nose was the author's fawning description of the huge strong warrior Caramon. It got a bit ridiculous but then it mostly all disappeared after, maybe, the first quarter of the book. I mean, Caramon is something like 22 or whatever so trying to describe a beginning fighter as some great warrior doesn't work. Later in the book, while fighting off a few demons, Caramon 'just wants to go home'. I don't think a 'great warrior' would have said that, but again, these tiny misgivings are easily overlooked when you consider it's somebody (one person) telling you a story. Caramon might be standing behind me with a beer in his hand yelling 'Hey, No I didn't!!!'
Overall, a good Dragonlance story of Raistlin, Carmon and Tas' cousin Earwig that I recommend.
I very much enjoyed Soulforge and Brothers in Arms before this. Although I agree Kender are annoying, I did surprisingly well with this. Earwig had his place in the story like Tas does in others. I must say that Dragonlance gives me that Sunday-morning-D&D cartoon-feeling of the 80's and being a nostalgic person, I enjoy this. Yeah, I know, a Dragonlance cartoon does exist-
Raistlin demonstrates growing magic usage which is cool. The one thing that wrinkled my nose was the author's fawning description of the huge strong warrior Caramon. It got a bit ridiculous but then it mostly all disappeared after, maybe, the first quarter of the book. I mean, Caramon is something like 22 or whatever so trying to describe a beginning fighter as some great warrior doesn't work. Later in the book, while fighting off a few demons, Caramon 'just wants to go home'. I don't think a 'great warrior' would have said that, but again, these tiny misgivings are easily overlooked when you consider it's somebody (one person) telling you a story. Caramon might be standing behind me with a beer in his hand yelling 'Hey, No I didn't!!!'
Overall, a good Dragonlance story of Raistlin, Carmon and Tas' cousin Earwig that I recommend.
I very much enjoyed Soulforge and Brothers in Arms before this. Although I agree Kender are annoying, I did surprisingly well with this. Earwig had his place in the story like Tas does in others. I must say that Dragonlance gives me that Sunday-morning-D&D cartoon-feeling of the 80's and being a nostalgic person, I enjoy this. Yeah, I know, a Dragonlance cartoon does exist-
June 26, 2025
i wish my copy had this cover because mine is ugly. In the book, the cover is chapter art, and the same book is in the story talking about how handsome Caramon looks. In the art, he has a face only a mother could love.
Okay, getting to the story. All of the preludes take place in the five years the gang gives each other to go have adventures.
Caramon and Raistlin are with a kinder named Earwig. Naming a kinder after one of the grossest bugs ever is terrible. I was pretty put out that the story had a kender, and it wasn't Tas, but after all of the stuff that happens with Earwig, I'm glad it wasn't Tas.
The three adventurers go in search of a job to figure out where all the cats have gone. I feel sure they never expected this adventure to turn out like it did.
This is another book where Raistlin seems redeemable. He does act like a jerk sometimes, but other times, he clearly wants what is best for others. I feel like every author of Dragonlance has their own ideas of who Raistlin is.
Caramon is a ladies' man in this book. He seems more about kissing and wooing females than obsessing about Raistlin. Tika would like to inform you of how off that little bit is.
When they find the missing cats, I was shocked. I really never expected that. I think I read Slack jawed for the next two pages.
I don't really understand what happened with Caramon and Earwig in the catacomb city. They destroyed something ? I swear the big scenes in fantasy always go over my head.
Raistlin's end scene with Shavas was a bit The Princess Bride, and I loved every second of it!
Okay, getting to the story. All of the preludes take place in the five years the gang gives each other to go have adventures.
Caramon and Raistlin are with a kinder named Earwig. Naming a kinder after one of the grossest bugs ever is terrible. I was pretty put out that the story had a kender, and it wasn't Tas, but after all of the stuff that happens with Earwig, I'm glad it wasn't Tas.
The three adventurers go in search of a job to figure out where all the cats have gone. I feel sure they never expected this adventure to turn out like it did.
This is another book where Raistlin seems redeemable. He does act like a jerk sometimes, but other times, he clearly wants what is best for others. I feel like every author of Dragonlance has their own ideas of who Raistlin is.
Caramon is a ladies' man in this book. He seems more about kissing and wooing females than obsessing about Raistlin. Tika would like to inform you of how off that little bit is.
When they find the missing cats, I was shocked. I really never expected that. I think I read Slack jawed for the next two pages.
I don't really understand what happened with Caramon and Earwig in the catacomb city. They destroyed something ? I swear the big scenes in fantasy always go over my head.
Raistlin's end scene with Shavas was a bit The Princess Bride, and I loved every second of it!
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